He Israeli Army spokesman Daniel Hagari acknowledged Wednesday in an interview with Israeli News Channel 13 that Eradicating Hamas from the Gaza Strip is an impossible mission, and that the Islamists will remain in it if an alternative to their government is not found.
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“This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear, is simply misleading the public,” Hagari said in the interview, eight and a half months after the start of the war in the Palestinian enclave.
“Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It is rooted in people’s hearts; anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong,” he continued.
His words unleashed the anger of the Office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuwhich in a statement recalled that “one of the objectives of the war (is) the destruction of the military and government capabilities of Hamas.”
“The Israel Defense Forces, of course, are committed to this,” adds the statement, which evokes the need for an “absolute victory” so often repeated by Netanyahu throughout this war, in which more have already died. of 37,400 Gazans.
One of the objectives of the war (is) the destruction of Hamas’s military and government capabilities
In turn, the Army responded to Netanyahu, and in a military statement in Hebrew assured that its forces have been working “day and night” since the beginning of the war to achieve those objectives and will continue to do so.
“The commanders and their servants fight with determination and persistence to destroy the military capabilities and governmental and organizational infrastructure of Hamas in Gaza, a clear military objective,” the spokesperson said.
“In his words, the spokesperson (Hagari) referred to the destruction of Hamas as an ideology and an idea, and he said it clearly and explicitly. Any other statement takes things out of context“, clarified the military note.
Growing friction between the Army and the Israeli government
This is, at least, the third episode of friction in recent weeks between the military and Netanyahu. Already last month, Hagari hinted that the war could not be won, and that the Army would have to constantly return to previously cleared areas, in the absence of a post-war plan.
“There is no doubt that a government alternative to Hamas will create pressure on Hamas, but that is a question that corresponds to the political level,” Hagari lamented at the time.
Some days ago, The Army announced the cessation of hostilities, for a total of eleven hours a day, on a stretch of road in southern Gaza in order to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid. Shortly after, Netanyahu called that partial pause “inconceivable” and announced in a statement that it would not affect the fighting in Rafah.
“To achieve the goal of destroying Hamas’ capabilities, I have had to make decisions not always accepted by the military leaders,” Netanyahu said in this regard during the cabinet meeting last Sunday.
Alert for Israeli hostage situation in Gaza
Meanwhile, US officials told The Wall Street Journal that Only about 50 hostages of the approximately 250 that Hamas kidnapped in Israel on October 7 are still alive.
The data was offered by mediators in the talks about the hostages and by a US official familiar with intelligence information, according to the newspaper on Thursday.
The newspaper reminds that, Of the approximately 250 kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on Israeli territory, 116 remain captive, but this figure includes those believed to be dead.
Israel has officially confirmed that of those 116 kidnapped, 43 are dead.
So far, seven hostages have been rescued alive by the Israeli Army and another 109 have been released for humanitarian reasons. or exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons during last November’s truce.
In the attacks on October 7, around 1,200 people also died, many of them attending a music festival held in southern Israel.
The attacks sparked an Israeli offensive that the Hamas-controlled Gaza government says has killed more than 37,000 people, most of them women and children.
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